Page 67 of Counterfeit Connection

He huffs and wiggles his head, nudging against my touch. God, I hate being away from him so much. I really need to get back here more.

“Wow,” Griffin says when he approaches. “He’s gorgeous, Kaitlyn.” He tentatively reaches out his hand. “May I?”

“He’s quick to trust and an attention whore. You can absolutely pet him.” Griffin pulls a handful of carrots from his pocket, offering them to Rocket one at a time. “Bribery?”

“I’m no idiot. He’s another man in your life. I have to earn this, even if you say it will be easy. Hey there, mate. How are you?” Griffin slides his hand up and down his muzzle. With one little bob of his head, I know the deal is sealed.

“He likes you.”

“I’m glad. Who will I ride?”

“I think Spartan would suit you well. He was my mother’s horse. He’s Rocket’s best friend. They love going on trail rides together and basically running side by side if given the chance.Dad rides him when he can, and he’s who my brother-in-law takes when he and Gilly are here.”

“I feel honored to ride her prize. I’ll take good care of him.”

“I have no doubt about that.”

It doesn’t take long until I realize I was absolutely right. Watching Griffin place my saddle and make sure we are ready to go on the horses was basically like watching porn.

His sleeves ended up rolled to his elbows and a little sweat beaded his brow. Whew. I had to turn away a couple times to keep from making a noise when he grunted a little when exuding some strength.

“All right, I think we are ready to go,” he says, catching me staring. “What?”

“Huh? What?” I shake my head, clearing my very inappropriate thoughts. “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“What were you thinking about?” he asks, stopping me from walking by him with a hand to my stomach.

“Oh, nothing. Just excited to ride you. Wait, no, I mean, ride Rocket.” I push by him. “Stop being so sexy. It’s distracting me, okay?”

He tosses his head back and laughs. I love that sound.

“One night in my arms without it and you’re already in withdrawals. Seems like someone has it bad for her fake boyfriend.”

I roll my eyes at him. “I need to run to the restroom real quick before we take off. Can you be patient?”

“Hurry up,” he replies, playfully swatting my ass as I walk away. I yelp in return.

I was also so grateful my father had the forethought to make sure we had plumbing out in the stables. Working toilets for the win!

I do what any normal millennial does and take a few minutes to scroll my phone while in the silence of the bathroom. I sighheavily after a couple of moments and go to put my phone away when it vibrates repeatedly in my hand. Mika has sent me multiple pictures, at least five or six, with one text attached.

Mika: Dude. What the fuck is wrong with people?

I open the first photo and see it’s a screenshot from a social media platform I refuse to use, and there’s a picture of Griffin and I kissing on our first “date,” but it’s the comments underneath that make my stomach twist into knots.

Who is this ugly bitch he’s with?

What a cow! He deserves better.

Someone should have put her down when she was born.

We obviously all know she’s a GOLD DIGGER!

I lock the screen and toss my phone onto the counter, unable to look at anything else. I try to tell myself over and over these are just trolls on the internet, but that doesn’t make their words hurt any less.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… I’m sure of it.

I take a minute to compose myself before going back out to meet Griffin by the horses.

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